A review of pieces, places, and people following antiques from origin to market to home.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Discovery Architectural Antiques & Tiny Texas Houses

Last weekend, on my way to Boerne, Texas, I took a detour off Interstate 10 towards the town of Gonzales. Located two hours west of Houston and one hour east of San Antonio or Austin, Discovery Architectural Antiques is worth the diversion. The business has grown to over 140,000 square feet of inventory in 13 buildings around the town.

The starting point is this storefront in downtown Gonzales, which showcases only a fraction of their inventory in four adjoining buildings.

The real excitement for me came when I visited their largest warehouse just six blocks away.

I am assuming that these headstones came from a bankrupt monument company or had typos, rather than an actual cemetery. I plan to use these on a project by turning them face down and stacking them for steps up to a porch... Shh, don't tell my client!

As far as the eye can see in any direction is salvage material.

Floor material.

Trim material.

Industrial carts... and a kitten following me around.

Sign material.

Wood beams.

Entire gables.

A nice vent hood or canopy.

Stuff.

The workshop.

These windows are great for headboards.

Nicely colored shutters. Maybe I'll do a ceiling or wall like this restaurant.

I don't know what this is, but I think it is upside down.

After walking the entire 140,000 square feet of inventory, I fell in love with this piece. It is a trolley for a hay lifter and belongs in my home. Unfortunately, I was told that it is not for sale... probably the only thing NOT for sale there. If Discovery Architectural Antiques is reading this and would like to reconsider, please CONTACT me!

Well, the two-year drought in central Texas ended the day of my visit and the storms prevented me from visiting Discovery's other venture down the road in Luling called Tiny Texas Houses. These photos came from their website and Sarah Wilson.

What material isn't purchased may end up in one of these houses in someone's backyard.

I lived in a cabin in my parent's backyard in high school and college, so I can relate to the allure of small spaces as an architecture of relevance versus an architecture of excess.

The Rustic Ranch House.

The Victorian Farm House.

Rustic Farm House on Bear Creek.

Carpenter Victorian Bed and Breakfast in Austin.

Living room.

Bathroom with sleeping loft above.

Rustic Ranch Styled Cabin and the Victorian.

Once in Boerne, I met up with family to support my dad's recently completed 1923 Ford T-Bucket in the Key to the Hills Rod Run. Best in Show, IMO!

29 comments:

What a fun place that looked like to explore! I love the little houses. I tried to talk my husband into building a little house similar to those a year or so ago. He didn't seemed all that enthusiastic living in such a small place, but how cute they are!

we keep trying to convince the guys to build some tiny roanoke houses :) bummed you didn't get to see them in person! but the other sites looked like great fun - i'm in awe of how they manage 13 buildings!

i'll look around here for a trolley for you... i'm sure we can find something!

Thanks for taking us on your salvage run. I get really excited about places like this too. I gasped when I saw the porch roof on your first photo. I really could use that here it would look great over my front door.~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Thanks so much for sharing your time at this amazing place. I have family near Gonzales and have always wanted to make time to explore here, but just have not done it. I feel like I have been there now! What treasure! If I ever get to build another house I know exactly where to go for materials. Thanks for such an extensive tour.

wow I need to get to Texas and I also need to bring a trailer, I love that place with the wonderful things, toooo cooool, I am a new follower of this blog,,,,come for a visit... Thank you for post..Underfloor heating

An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers

The Architectural Antique Review

About me

With over 10 years experience in the design and construction industry, Spencer Howard has completed $150 million in new construction and renovation projects ranging from residential to institutional facilities.